Control for motor vehicles



Feb. 12, 1935. w JARVIS 1,990,828

CONTROL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Oct. 24, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. l.

INVENTOR:

FRANKLIN W. JARVI ATTORNEY.

Feb. 12, 1935. E w JARVIS 1,990,828

Filed 001;. 24, 1952 3 Sheets-Shasta Y INVENTOR:

FRANKLIN W. JARVI ATTORNEY.

Feb. 12, 1935. F. w. JARVIS CONTROL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Oct. 24,1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR:

FRANKLIN W. JARVIS.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL FOR MOTORVEHICLES Franklin w. Jarvis, Oakland, Calif. Application October 24,1932, Serial No. 639,240 6 Claims. (01. 192 1) This invention relates toimprovements in arranged to be engaged by the heel to prevent controlsfor motor vehicles and more particuaccidental displacement of the ,foot.The tread larly to a combined brake and throttle control. may beprovided with a non-slip surface.

The principal object of the invention is to The arm 10 has the lateralextension 13 procontrol both the engine throttle and the brakes vided atits end with the antifriction roller 14. 5 by the selective operation ofa single pedal. The lever 15 has the flat 'end 16 adapted to be Anotherobject is to arrange the apparatus to operatively engaged by the roller14 and is fixed enable the operators foot to assume proper on the crossrod 17 which is connected to the positions for the effective performanceof the engine throttle as suggested in Fig. 5. The prebraking andaccelerating operations. cise form of throttle control will vary withthe Another object is to renderthe control remake and model of thevehicle. If deemed sponsive to instinctive operation. necessary, theconventional accelerator button Another object is to increase the lengthof may be provided to supplement the operation of the braking stroke ofthe pedal. the pedal 9 by independent foot control.

Another object is to minimize the physical The brake lever 18 is pivotedon the cross rod 1d exertion required for operation of the control. 19and is bent laterally at 20 to pass through the A further object is torender the control unit bifurcated portion of the lever 6. The plungerinexpensive and compact in design and reliable 21 is mounted in theclevis 22 at the lower end in operation. of the lever 18 and extendsinto the hydraulic 20 Other objects and advantages will appear as brakeactuating element 23. It will be obvious 20 the description progresses.to those skilled in the art that the lever 18 may In this specificationand the accompanying be modified to operate mechanical or otherbrakdrawings, the invention is disclosed in its preing systems withoutdeparting from the spirit ferred form. It is however, to be understoodof the invention.

that the invention is not limited to this form The roller 24 is mountedon the lower end of 25 because it may be embodied in other forms thelever 6 in the plane of the brake lever 18 without departing from thespirit of the invenand is adapted to impinge thereon when the tion asdefined in the claims following the lever 6 is operatively swung on itspivot. The description. composition snubber 25 is inset in the lever 6In the accompanying three sheets of drawings: adjacent the roller 24 andis adapted to be Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in vertical enaged bythe brake lever 18 to limit its movesection of a control unitconstructed in accordment and to absorb possible rattles between theance with this invention. brake lever and the lever 6.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same in position The cam 26 is integralwith the side of the J for braking. arm 10 and has the nose 27engageable over the Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of theroller 28 extending laterally from the end of the same taken along theline IIIIII, Fig. 1. brake lever 18 (see Figs. 2 and 4).

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same in braking The resilient pressureof the brake lever 18 position taken along the line IV-IV, Fig. 2.against the snubber 25 urges the lever 6 to Fig. 5 is a diagrammaticview in side elevation assume the position shown in Fig. 1. The lower ofthe control unit applied to a motor vehicle. portion of the arm 10 isprovided with the roller In detail, the construction illustrated in the30 which is arranged to impinge beneath the drawings, referring moreparticularly to Figs. 1 lateral extension of the brake lever to directthe and 2, comprises the usual horizontal floor board roller 14downwardly into contact with the flat 1 with the inclined foot board 2rising from the end of the throttle lever 15. Additional springs frontend thereof. The bracket 3 is secured to may be provided to supplementthe pressure of the foot board 2 by the screws 4-4 and has the the brakelever for restoring the operating elecentral opening 5 therethrough.ments to the normal positions.

The lever 6 pivots on the pin 7 mounted in the The roller 31 is mountedin the bracket 3 lugs 8-8 depending from opposite sides of the and isarranged to be engaged by the edge of bracket. The pedal 9 has the arm10 extending the arm 10 as shown in Fig. 2 to insure against downwardlytherefrom and pivots on the bolt 11 overthrow when the lever 6 is swunginto braking in the bifurcated upper end of the lever 6. The position aslater described. pedal 9 is shaped to conform to the foot of the Theinvention operates substantially as foloperator and has the projection12 thereon lows: The control unit as shown in Figs. 1 and 55 3 is in itsprimary position with the roller 14 operatively engaging over the end ofthe throttle control lever. I The toe of the pedal 91s thus in theaccelerating position and adapted to be depressed to operate the enginethrottle.

To accomplish this result, the operator's foot on the pedal 9 is flexedfrom the ankle to depress the ball of the foot to tilt the pedal on itspivot 11. The roller 14 is forced downward against the end of the lever15, swinging the lever and opening the engine throttle to secure thedesired acceleration. The cam 26 remains disengaged throughout thismovement as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1.

It has been found preferable to locate the pedal 9 with respect to thedriver's seat in the usual position of the conventional acceleratorpedal. The pedal 9 should also be comfortably tilted in the positionshown in Fig. 1. This enables the foot to assume the natural positionfor acceleration.

The control unit is advanced into the braking position shown in Fig. 2by moving the pedal 9 straight forward by thrust of the heel. Thisswings the lever 6 on its pivot 7 until the nose 27 of the cam 26engages over theroller 28 and brings the edge of the arm 10 into contactwith the roller- 31.

The movement of the roller 24 swings the brake lever 18 and forces theplunger 21 partially into the hydraulic pressure cylinder 23. Themovement of the plunger is suflicient to take the slack out of the brakemechanism to drag the brakes without actually stopping the vehicle. Theswing of the lever 18 moves the roller 28 rearwardly to cooperate withthe forward movement of the arm 10 in engaging the cam nose 27 over theroller 28.

- The advancing of the control unit into braking position also swingsthe pedal 9 on its pivot 11 raising its upper end until the pedalassumes the nearly vertical position shown in Fig. 2. This brings theupper end of the pedal closer to the body of the operator to enable aheavy foot pressure to be applied to complete the braking operation.

The swinging of the pedal 9 upon its pivot also raises the roller 14from contact with the end of the lever 15, thus completely disengagingthe control unit from the engine throttle during the braking movement.

The remainder of the braking movement is accomplished by pressing theball of the foot against the raised upper end of the pedal 9. Thisforces the cam 26 against the antifriction roller 28 and furtherdisplaces the lever 18, driving the plunger 21 into the cylinder 23 toapply the brakes in the conventional manner. The cam 26 is so arrangedthat a gradually increasing leverage is exerted on the roller-28 as thebraking movement progresses. This correspondingly increases thehydraulic pressure to insure the proper application of the brakes. Thestopping of the vehicle is controlled by the pressure applied to theadvanced pedal 9, the cam 26 and the lever 18, controlling the brakemechanism.

The control unit is restored to its initial position as in Fig. 1 byremoving the foot pressure from the pedal 9. The usual spring tension ofthe brake mechanism will then restore the brake lever 18 to its normalposition. The lever 6 is restored by contact of the roller 24 againstthe returning lever 18. This disengages the cam 26 from the roller 28thus disconnecting the foot control unit from the brake mechanism. Theroller 30 impinging beneath the lateral extension of the lever 18depresses the arm 10 to reengagethe roller 14 on the end of the throttlecontrol lever 15.

I Having thus described this invention what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a motor vehicle having brake and throttle controls, a bracket, alever pivoted on said bracket and adapted to partially operate saidbrake control, a pedal mounted on said lever, an arm fixed .to saidpedal and engageable and disengageable with said throttle control andhaving a cam thereon engageable with said brake control when the brakecontrol is partially operated by said lever.

2. In a motor vehicle havingbrake and throttle controls, a bracket, alever pivoted on said bracket, a pedal tiltably mounted on said lever,an arm fixed to said pedal and enga in said throttle control anddisengageable therefrom when said lever is swung forward, and a cam onsaid arm engageable with said brake control when said lever is swungforward and said pedal is tilted upward.

3. In a motor vehiclehaving brake and throttle controls; a pivoted pedalhaving means engaging said throttle control, said pedal beinglongitudinally movable to disengage said means from the throttlecontrol; means for partially operating said-brake control during thelongitudinal movement of said pedal; and means operable by said pedaland engageable with said brake control after the partial operationthereof during the longitudinal movement of said pedal.

4. In a motor vehicle having brake and throttle controls; a bracket; alever pivoted on said bracket; a pedal pivoted on said lever and havingmeans adapted to operate either of said controls when said pedal isdepressed forwardly; said lever being movable in two directions toengage or completely disengage said operating means and the brake andthrottle controls; and

means for partially operating said brake control and means operative bysaid pedal and in engagement with said throttle control and adapted tobe disengaged therefrom by the operative movement of said lever.

6. In a motor vehicle having throttle and brake controls; a bracket; alever mounted on said bracket and adapted when moved to partiallyoperate said brake control; a pedal mounted on said lever; an armextending from said pedal and engaging said throttle control anddisengageable therefrom by the operative movement of said lever; meanson said arm adapted to operatively engage said brake control after thepartial operation thereof by said lever; and

a stop adapted to be contacted by said arm to limit the movement of saidlever.

FRANKLIN W. JARVIS.

